Kathy's Page II; At a new home

KATHY'S PAGE II:

KEEPING PLANTS SMALL
(AT A NEW HOME)!

                Kathy Almeida first wrote on October 22, 2002 not long after she had purchased a small Dwarf Schefflera from Dan's Greenhouse of Lahaina, Maui. "KEEPING PLANTS SMALL - Part I" is posted at www.fukubonsai.com/4c3b.html . Part I began with a question about "mold," progressed to her first heavy pruning on June 18, 2003 after she had her plant about 6 months. It showed follow-up of the regrowth, and a second heavy pruning in September of 2004. On September 20, 2006, I received the following email:

Hi David,

            We haven’t corresponded in over a year… how time flys by!! I have a new email address and want to get back on your mailing list for your newsletter. I hope that everything is going good for you and your business. We recently spent two weeks on Maui and visited Dan's Greenhouse and thought of you every time we went there.

            We moved from the Bay Area in California to above Sacramento to a little town called Lincoln. My bonsai is no longer in a greenhouse window with the perfect conditions as before. But, my plant is still going strong and surviving the high temperatures here. I now keep it on my kitchen counter with indirect light (see photo). I can’t believe it’s been two years since I’ve trimmed the tree! I’ve only trimmed it 3 times since purchasing it September of 2002, which was August ’03, September ‘04 and September ’06. To get the tree fuller and develop a bigger trunk, but still keep the plant compact, should I trim it twice a year and in the spring or summer instead of late summer? I have attached pictures of the latest trimming.

            As always, thanks for your time David and I look forward to hearing from you. Take care, ~Kathy

BEFORE: 22" wide x 12" high!	TOP VIEW: 2 sections to trim back
FIRST CUT	SECOND CUT
AFTER. In just two cuts, Kathy has her lava planting back to manageable size. Kathy has always had great growth as she uses "enriched water" each time she waters. This is a proven technique used by many of our more successful customers and is highly recommended. Her plant has one heavy long root that lengthens and curls around the bottom of the wood bowl.
Two cuttings and shortened root	View of the indirect lighting in its new home

WOW Kathy, you're really making it look easy! You've come a long way from the first note I got back in 2002 and I thank you for sharing the three times that you've pruned this tree. I generally advise allowing a new branch to grow out 5 to 7 new leaves before pruning back to 1 or 2 leaves. This results in 3 to 5 leaf cuttings that can be rooted to start new plants. But if pruned more often when there are about 3-4 new leaves, you'll be trimming more often before the leaves get large and this will result in a more compact plant, although cuttings may be too small to root.

Kathy takes GREAT photos and I thought everyone would enjoy seeing how this tree has evolved in the past four years.

OCTOBER 2002	AUGUST 2003 after first trimming
SEPTEMBER 2004 after second trimming	SEPTEMBER 2006 after third trimming

                When Kathy first wrote, she set as her training goal to maintain the same size and she's done so! Congratulations Kathy! You've again done a great job of figuring out what needed to be done and sharing it with the website readers. Kathy submitted the eight photos that were of ideal size and clearly told the story! THANK YOU!

                My own understanding greatly increased after I began teaching Bonsai Evening Adult Education Classes at Aiea High School in Honolulu in 1966. But back then, my students had a very difficult time obtaining appropriate plants to use in the workshops. Fuku-Bonsai initially began as a part-time backyard nursery specifically to supply prepared bonsai stock for beginner bonsai classes.

                A few years ago we developed a "Premium Keiki Bonsai Workshop Package" and this continues to be an ideal package. It is large enough with established roots protected within a rock planting so there's an extremely high success rate. But it's a bet costly due to the amount of work to put together the components including premium stock that is already rock-planted and 4 to 7 years in training.

                Fuku-Bonsai is currently developing an "Introductory Bonsai Workshop Package" that will be ideal for individual's first hands-on bonsai workshop. These will be available to individuals as well as those teaching beginner bonsai classes. By bulk-packaging the components, we will be able to supply instructors or school districts at attractive prices. Please write for more information if interested. I'll be asking Kathy and a few other correspondents to field test, evaluate and share a critique and photo report.   ~~~David

                ____________________________________________________________________________

                In May of 2007, Kathy was asked to field-test the new Introductory Workshop Package and to ask two of her friends to also try them. She did, they did, and the great photo reports are titled: Kathy Alameida & Introductory Workshop Packages!

               We invite those who are willing and able to learn while teaching others to also create a page and share the development of their trees. Those interested in participating are invited to contact:
                David Fukumoto, founder and president, Fuku-Bonsai Inc.
                     PO Box 6000 (Olaa Road), Kurtistown, Hawaii 96760
                     Phone (808) 982-9880; FAX (808) 982-9883
                     E-mail: david@fukubonsai.com        URL: www.fukubonsai.com

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